How far is skating willing to go?

Hello. I'm new. I love watching figure skating as I cannot do it myself due to my disability. I've been watching Olympic coverage since Salt Lake. My question is have we reached the maximum potential in terms of jumping? Will we see pentuple toe loops in conjunction with quadruple axels? Will we see level V spins? The reason I ask is I remember quadruple jumps being thrown in in Vancouver and now they are becoming more common.

About jumps, various skaters have practiced quad flips and quad loops. Brandon Mroz has credit for doing the first quad Lutz. I wouldn't be surprised to see those jumps start to come into play in the future.

In terms of Level 5 spins, that won't happen unless the scoring system changes. The current system only goes up to Level 4.

I can see them change the scoring systems a little to create Level 5 -- the current Level 4 being shifted to become 5, etc, etc.

Quads for men have definitely become more common, but I'm not sure about ladies. Mao is still the only one who can land 3A anywhere close to be called on a regular basis, and the world records from 4 years ago have not been broken (while men have been pushing the boundaries, yay, Hanyu and Chan!). Other than increasing the Axel value even more (an option I don't necessarily agree with, but I'm throwing it out there), what would encourage the up and coming lady skaters to push the boundaries even more?

I don't think that increasing the value of a jump that skaters are unable to do will encourage them to attempt it.

Quads and triple axels are already worth a lot of points -- even if you fall -- as long as you get the full rotation.

Skaters who are confident in their ability to rotate fully and hopeful of remaining upright will attempt the jumps.

Skaters who can't get the rotation will not attempt them in competition no matter how many points they're worth. Why waste an attempt that's only going to be downgraded.

I'm sure they're working on them in practice, but it's not just a matter of working harder.

I expect we'll see a revolution in more different types of quads from men, and triple axels and some quads from women, when there's a revolution in equipment that makes it easier to to get more air time to get the rotation.

Meanwhile, there will be only slight increases in the number of skaters who succeed enough in practice to have incentive to try in competition.

I expect we'll see a revolution in more different types of quads from men, and triple axels and some quads from women, when there's a revolution in equipment that makes it easier to to get more air time to get the rotation.

Interesting -- thanks for the input! But wait, there's an equipment? Equipment to use in practice, or do you mean when athletes become even more advanced and, well, athletic?

Interesting -- thanks for the input! But wait, there's an equipment? Equipment to use in practice, or do you mean when athletes become even more advanced and, well, athletic?

I believe we're talking about boots and blades with regard to equipment. As it is, it's difficult to get much more spring/height on jumps with existing equipment. There's also the question of how much torque a blade could take on landing before snapping

What I had in mind was skates that provide sufficient support and flexibility, and also offer some extra spring.

In addition to extra spring, it seems like there ought to be more research into ways of reducing the risk of short- and long-term injuries. I wonder if it would be possible to design some sort of skating pants that would provide continuous support all the way up the leg.